time had acquired a' surprising thickness- I asked her how old she
was: she told me, ninety; that.this was the pEce of her birth, and that
she had lived here, ever since.
~ The neighbourhood of Murichom is dreadfully infested by a small
flyj differing much from the riiusquito, both in form anih size; but
it fixes itself in the same manner, and draws blood-with a proboscis,
whose: puncture is not felt, till Some time after the attack. 1 Wheh
satiated, it flies off, leaving behind a small blister full of black contaminated
blood, which enlarges^jnElames, and becomes'* exceedingly-
irritating and troublesome. Most of the inhabitants lire so marked by
the wounds of this venomous fly, that the parts of their skins exposed
to the. air, are covered with scurf, and:being sometimes'attended with
tumours,acquire a most diseased appearance: ajsevere tax this upon
so delightful a place as-Murichom, which by nature is one oftlic mcSfj
beautiful I have seen. While we were there, though in the height i r
the hottest season in Bengal, we enjoyed a pleasant "temperature
of air.
We proceeded from Murichom, on Sunday the 25 th of May, on
our way to Chuka, and passed by Tetim, once a considerable village,
situated on the left side of the road, upon the brow of a lofty
mountain, but of which the greatest part was destroyed by a dreadful
accident, not many years since. In one tempestuous night, a hurricane
swept nine houses down the steep, with the people that were in
them, and though much search was afterwards made, not a vestige
of -their inhabitants was ever seen. Three houses now remain, and
their tenants, unawed by the dismal fate of their neighbours, still keep